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CAQ-EM study materials
CAQ-EM study resources

CAQ-EM study guide

CAQ-EM · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

The Certificate of Added Qualification in Emergency Medicine (CAQ-EM) is the credential family physicians ask about when they want formal recognition of emergency care expertise on top of ABFM certification. This page is an independent study guide, not an official ABFM resource, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the American Board of Family Medicine. The source material currently available describes ABFM's Certificates of Added Qualification program as a whole, including how additional subspecialty certificates are administered and the one-day exam format used for several CAQs, but it does not publish a dedicated Emergency Medicine CAQ page with its own blueprint, eligibility rules, fees, or dates. Because of that gap, this guide marks exam-specific figures as unconfirmed rather than guessing. Expect the assessment to test applied emergency decision-making: undifferentiated presentations, time-critical stabilization, risk stratification, and safe disposition, delivered in a one-day exam format consistent with ABFM's other CAQ offerings. Preparation should combine a structured review of emergency medicine content with high-volume case-based practice, focused reading on the conditions you handle least often in outpatient practice, and timed mock questions to build pacing. Topics on this exam: Emergency Medicine. The CAQ-EM study guide has 1 section and about 374 words.

01

Emergency Medicine

This domain tests rapid prioritization and resuscitation under uncertainty. Expect items on airway, breathing, circulation, neurologic emergencies, toxicology, trauma, and pediatric/obstetric adaptations. The exam rewards guideline-concordant first actions and penalizes delayed escalation. Items are vignette-based and ask for the next best step.

374 words, about 2 min

More study resources for CAQ-EM

  • Practice questionsA 58-year-old man with crushing substernal chest pain has an ECG showing 3 mm ST elevation in leads II, III, and aVF.
  • FlashcardsPrimary survey order. ABCDE: Airway with C-spine protection, Breathing, Circulation with hemorrhage control, Disability (GCS, pupils, glucose), Exposure with temperature control.
  • Cheat sheetPrimary survey (ABCDE): Airway with cervical spine protection, Breathing with ventilation/oxygenation, Circulation with hemorrhage control, Disability (GCS, pupils, glucose), Exposure with temperature control.
  • Key termsTriage. The process of rapidly sorting patients by urgency so that those with immediately life-threatening conditions receive care first.
  • Study planMap the CAQ-EM blueprint against your own practice by listing every core content area and rating your confidence 1-5 for each.
  • Common mistakesEmergency scenarios in the item set are written with a plausible anchor diagnosis and one or two quiet discriminators.
  • Exam-day guideBring the exact form of identification named in your admission notice.